Paul Wachholz
Flathead Valley Community College’s (FVCC’s) ONE Campaign got a boost with a $4 million donation from longtime Flathead Valley businessman and community philanthropist Paul Wachholz. The fundraising campaign supports the development of a new library/learning commons and the College Center on the Kalispell campus.
Wachholz’s gift is designated for the College Center, a 50,000-square-foot facility to include a large performance and lecture hall that will also serve as the home for the Glacier Symphony, a multi-purpose activity complex with two full basketball courts, an outdoor amphitheater and a reception hall with an exhibition gallery. The facility will open in 2020.
“Throughout my life, I have not valued money by its worth, but rather by what it can specifically be used for,” Wachholz said in a release. “Investing in FVCC and the College Center is personally very gratifying to me because it will become a focal point of the expanding college campus, bringing students and community members together.”
Florida
Hillsborough Community College (HCC) received a $250,000 grant from the Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund (EEVF) that will support HCC student entrepreneurs’ start-up businesses, including one year of concentrated business mentoring to help entrepreneurs. It also includes a strong community engagement component from planning through after business launch with mentors and matching funds coming from the local business community.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Bay Community College health science students will benefit from a $50,000 donation from the Herb and Maxine Jacobs Foundation, which will provide scholarships.
“Without this support, many health science students would not be achieving their dream of a great education and a sustainable job and salary to support their family,” said Mary Shia, MassBay vice president of institutional advancement and alumni relations and executive director of the MassBay Foundation.
Texas
El Paso Community College (EPCC) will partner with the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) on a new grant-funded project, The Humanities Collective. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded a more than $2 million grant to EPCC and UTEP for the three-year project.
The Humanities Collective will expand collaboration in the humanities between the two institutions and invigorate humanities coursework and student research through paid internships, community involvement and mentored research, among other high-impact experiences. The goal is to increase undergraduate and graduate majors in humanities disciplines such as English, history, languages and philosophy.
EPCC also recently accepted its fourth consecutive annual grant of $100,000 from Texas Mutual Insurance for the college’s Risk Management Institute. The funds will be used to provide safety courses to community employers, workers and the general public.
Virginia
Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) will use a $135,000 grant from Capital One Foundation to address workforce needs in the region. This is the third consecutive year that NOVA has received the grant.
Northern Virginia boasts a high demand for jobs in information technology, cybersecurity and healthcare. The college will use the grant to grow its labor market research capacity which will include increasing outreach to local K-12 school systems, enhanced engagement with NVCC students on economic opportunities in the region, and the development of a data-driven website for career exploration in the technology sector.
The grant is part of a multi-year cohort partnership of 14 community college workforce development programs in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Texas, Louisiana and New York, all focused on strengthening student outcomes through career pathways, labor market research and community partnerships.
